Business Friendly Star to Lead Shanghai

China has named the new Communist party boss in Shanghai, six months after the former party chief was ousted in the country’s biggest corruption scandal in a decade. Read original article

The Xinhua news agency at the weekend reported the appointment of Xi Jinping, 53, who was the party secretary in the thriving eastern province of Zhejiang and is considered one of the rising stars of his generation.

Mr Xi has been in charge of Zhejiang since 2002 during which time the province, just south of Shanghai, has cemented its position as one of the driving forces of the private sector economy. He is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a veteran revolutionary who later was a close ally of Deng Xiaoping in the early years of economic reform.

Mr Xi replaces Chen Liangyu who was detained in September, along with a dozen senior city officials and businessmen, for their alleged involvement in a Rmb3bn ($388m, €292m, £198m) scandal over the city’s pension fund.

The appointment appears to be the first move in a broader reshuffle of senior party officials ahead of a crucial party congress scheduled for the autumn. President Hu Jintao will probably use the reshuffle to reinforce his own position, and to promote a group of officials in their 50s who will form the basis of the next generation of leaders when he stands down in 2012.

Analysts said Mr Xi’s appointment to the top job in Shanghai, from which he is also expected to become a member of the Politburo, indicates he is in a strong position to become one of the “Fifth Generation” leaders. Other candidates include Liaoning party secretary Li Keqiang and his counterpart in Jiangsu province, Li Yuanchao.

Having never worked in Shanghai, Mr Xi will be a rarity among the closely-knit top leadership in the city. But his appointment is not so great a shock to Shanghai’s insulated political life, given he is from a neighbouring province and has championed the pro-business stance the city has adopted.

■Xinhua announced that Mao Zedong’s last surviving son, Mao Anqing, has died in Beijing at the age of 84.